Earlier this week, we were introduced to a new concept in intellectual property law: the European 'Community Design'. The Community Design is a sort of trademark on design, and sits halfway between a trademark and a patent. I decided to investigate what, exactly, the laws and regulations around Community Designs are, and what I found was shocking. Think the USPTO is bad? Wait until you learn about the Community Design.

I find that both sad and alarming. I thought the EU was supposed to be "better" than the US? If the people don't control the government (not saying we truly do here, but it's the principle) then throw out the government and start again!

That's the problem. The European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Council sit on top of the governments. So while a national government represents the people of the nation and, in theory at least, is accountable to the people and can be removed by the people, in practice the EU organisations represent the governments, rather than the people. The process of government in the EU is conducted behind closed doors.

Hell, I could even knock on the door of an MEP that lives not far from me...
People in smaller countries and countries with low power distance index have the benefit of influencing their parliamentarians more directly...